William Edwy Bellows

William Edwy Bellows, senior member of the law firm of Bellows & Stone, of Reed City, was born Jan. 14, 1858, at Mishawaka, Ind. Charles Fitz Roy Bellows, his father, who lives at Ypsilanti, Mich., was born Nov. 29. 1832, near Bellows Falls, Vermont, a place founded and named by Col. John Bellows, a paternal ancestor of Mr. Bellows of this sketch. The family is an old New England one, the first member of which, JOhn Bellows, came from England in the year 1635, and his descendants were distinguished in Colonial matters and in the Revolutionary War.

In 1837, when five years of age, Mr. Bellows' father removed with his parents from Vermont to Michigan, making almost the entire journey in a pioneer wagon with ox team, and settled on Climax Prairie in Kalamazoo County, where his father made a large claim of land. The grandfather of the Mr. Bellows of this sketch is still living, at the age of 85, on the land he located when he came to this State, still farming, having nearly 400 acres under a high order of cultivation.

His wife died on the farm, about the year 1866, leaving a large family, of which Charles F.R. Bellows was the oldest child and only son.

From the date of the removal of the family to Michigan, the boyhood of Charles F.R. Bellows was spent on the farm, employed in clearing and improving it in a then almost unsettled country, having but few advantages of society or schools, and leading the well-known life of the pioneer boy. He afterward attended the college just established at Olivet, and the State Normal School, and leaving the farm, entered upon the life of a teacher, successively at Constantine, Mishawaka and at Decatur. At these places he was Principal of academies and graded schools, and devoted his entire time, not otherwise employed, in the study of mathematics, for which he had an unusual adaptation and faculty, enabling him to enter the advanced course in civil engineering at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. After graduating with honor at the University he continued teaching, and by his industry and ability has placed himself at the head of the profession which he has pursued since. He is at present Professor of Mathematics in the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, a position he has filled for 18 years. As an author of a number of text books on mathematics, and a life long teacher of wide acquaintance, he is well known as a leading educator of the State. He has been prominent as well in political and journalistic circles, and founded the first Republican paper in Van Buren County. He is a Mason of eminence, and in 1883 was the Grand Master of the State of Michigan. The mother of Mr. Bellows was Julia E. nee Walker, whose family were early settlers in Oakland Co., Mich., and were also identified with the early growth of the State.

Being the son of a teacher, William E. Bellows enjoyed every advantage of education and training, being a pupil in the graded schools under his father's supervision and at the age of 12 years entering the State Normal School. He was a member of the Classical Course until his graduation, in the class of 1877, being particularily proficient in mathematics and ancient languages, his especial delights, and the study of which he keeps up to the present time in his active professional life. While in school he spent his summer vacations on the farm, encouraging a strong physical as well as mental growth. In 1878, after teaching district schools several winters while finishing his course, he became Principal of the Union School at Saugatuck, Allegan Co., Mich., where he remained three years, and afterward assumed control of the graded schools at Allegan in the same capacity for two years. As a teacher, he was practical, enthusiastic and devoted to thorough instruction and systematic management, and was held in high-esteem by pupils and patrons.

At the age of 23 he began the study of law, at first during the leisure he could get from school work, and afterward in the law office of P.A. Latta at Allegan and Capt. E.P. Allen at Ypsilanti. He was admitted to the Bar at Ann Arbor, in the Washtenaw Circuit, July 25, 1882, but continued teaching and the further prosceution of his legal studies until the spring of 1883, the date of his selection of Reed City as his field for the practice of his profession. The formation of his present partnership relation was entered into a short time afterward, and the firm are already engaged in an extensive and prosperous practice. Besides legal business proper, they deal extensively in real estate, solicit fire and life insurance and lend money. As a young lawyer his industry and native ability are making an impression in the community, which is the source of much important and profitable business. Mr. Bellows is a Republican in politics, born and bred, takes a deep interest in public affairs and is a rising man in local politics. He did effective work in the campaign of 1884 in his county for the Republican ticket, and his services as a campaign speaker are appreciated.

He was married Sept. 3, 1879, at Detroit, to Adelaide E. Weir. They are the parents of three children: Bertha C., born July 23, 1880, at Saugatuck; Lewis Fitz Roy, Feb. 11, 1882, in Allegan; and Florence A., born Sept. 29, 1883, at Reed City. Mrs. Bellows was born Dec. 25, 1860, at Manchester, Washtenaw Co., Mich., and is the daughter of Lewis H. and Susan Weir.

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